Tuesday, May 1, 2007

MGH leads drug maker Lilly's list of grants

Massachusetts General Hospital's psychiatry department got the largest single grant -- $825,000 -- from drug maker Eli Lilly & Co. in the first quarter of 2007, according to today's Wall Street Journal.

The Indianapolis pharmaceutical company will release a report today that for the first time details how much it gives to nonprofit groups and educational institutions, the story said. In the first quarter the grants totaled $11.8 million.

"We issued a challenge to the pharmaceutical industry: You say you believe in [continuing medical education], then give to academic institutions without any direct knowledge of what the curriculum will be," Dr. Jerrold Rosenbaum, psychiatrist-in-chief at Massachusetts General Hospital, told the Journal. Lilly isn't the only drug company to fund his program, but that support does not affect the content, he said.

Lilly's move comes amid criticism that money from drug companies is exerting an unhealthy influence on medicine, the story said.